Watch Over You
by borderfame-sabrestar
Summary: DM/HG:6/10. Draco struggles to deal with what he wants, and what is best for Hermione.


So with these little stories, they can be read separately or together with the other DM/HG one-shots I've written. I kinda like them. I hope you do too :) Let me know what you think. This one features lyrics from Watch Over You by Alter Bridge.

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><p><strong>Watch Over You<strong>

_Draco/Hermione_

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><p><em>Leaves are on the ground, fall has come<em>

The wind bellowed around him, buffeted him as he ran back to the castle. The perfect day had turned quite unbearable after the light breeze had turned into a strong wind, making his parchment blow around, and leaves blow up around him like a whirlwind.

Draco growled at his homework and shoved it back into his bag, crumpling it as he did so. He had planned on staying outside a little longer to finish his work. He hated working in the Slytherin common room because it was full of first years, not to mention that third year girl whose name he could never remember who simply wouldn't leave him be, even when he was nasty to her.

Draco rolled his eyes. He hated that girls thought beneath the rough exterior he was some sort of charmer, something out of a fairy tale, that they could melt his iciness and be left with a warm cuddly boyfriend. The stupidity of the idea was something only a woman could come up with.

_Blue skies turning grey, like my love_

Of course, any reasonable student would pack up their things and head to the library, but it simply wasn't an option for Draco anymore. The odds of seeing her there were too high and he just couldn't bear to be near her without being able to be with her.

After he had jumped her in the tower last year, Draco had seriously thought she would consider his offer, that he could convince her to choose him. He had convinced himself that it was a sure thing, that before long he'd be able to be with her.

_I tried to carry you, and make you whole_

His mind wandered, remembering the things she'd said to him. She had finally confronted him after a month of waiting, and finally his patience had paid off. After the memorial service Dumbledore had held for Cedric, Hermione had told Harry and Ron she had to go to the toilet and Draco had done the same, after she had sent him a note telling him to do so.

"_So you finally decided then?" he had asked, leaning casually against the stone wall, glaring at a second-year Hufflepuff passing by. Hermione gave him a disapproving look but didn't reprimand him for it._

_Her voice was quieter than usual when she finally responded. "Yes," she said. "I made a decision."_

_Draco thought for a moment that she was saying yes to his proposition, but he held his breath. She hadn't said anything yet. He had to be patient._

_He waited for her to look up at him with her warm eyes and smile, and say that she had chosen him because it was the only thing she could do, that she had chosen him because she didn't care what anyone else thought, because she could – _

"_I'm sorry," she said, her soft voice interrupting the lovely images in his mind. "I can't – can't be with you, and support Harry at the same time."_

_Draco felt cold. "What?"_

"_I can't abandon him, not now that You-Know-Who is back." Her eyes were shimmering with sadness as she stared at him._

"_You –" Draco's voice faltered and he tried to find the words. "Are you serious?" He pushed himself off the wall. He felt his pulse hammering._

"_He needs me –"_

"_I need you!" Draco yelled suddenly, and Hermione's eyes widened and she froze, unable to say anything. Draco stepped towards her and she stepped back._

_She shook her head, her curls floating around her face. "No, Draco," she whispered. "You don't need me. You need friends who you can trust and a family who loves you. You don't need me."_

_Her words stung him but for all of his anger, he knew she was right. He felt his lip twitching in anger but he couldn't say anything, so he just watched as Hermione turned and walked away, not looking back._

Draco felt his heart grow heavy even as he walked to the castle, knowing that now she had consciously made the decision and he had lost her. It had taken him all summer to come to terms with the fact.

_But I was never enough, I must go._

He had tormented Potter more than ever as soon as the school year had begun, and had seen for the first time a worried expression on Hermione's face whenever he did. She no longer stood up to him, or defended her friend, as Harry no longer needed her words. Instead, it was Ron's duty to restrain him, as Potter had a habit of taking his anger out physically this year.

Though Draco knew he could hit Potter, for some reason he didn't. He would see Hermione's worried eyes and it made him hesitate, and if he hesitated too long he knew that either Ron or Harry would start the fight.

So he would sneer and turn away, leave them be. But it was only a day later he would say something else to rattle Potter, to get on his nerves. It was far too easy.

But it left him wondering – what would Hermione do now that her dear Potter was so hell-bent on destroying the Dark Lord? She certainly couldn't talk to Weasley, because he was as unhelpful, unreceptive and generally as dim as ever. His resolution to any problem was to sleep, eat or fight, and though it usually worked for him, for Hermione it was no help.

_Who is gonna save you when I'm gone?_

Draco knew that he was Hermione's friend. He was the one she could vent to, the person she could trust with her emotions and her anxieties. She didn't trust anybody else. In any other circumstance she might have been able to talk to Potter but that wasn't an option anymore.

So Draco wondered how long it would be until she broke down, or until she came back to him.

_Who will watch over you when I'm gone?_

He could wait.

It was later on that night when Draco was wandering around the castle, trying to get away from his 'friends' when he heard her voice.

"Hurry up, Neville. You're late."

Her words were hushed. Draco peered around the corner and saw her ushering students into the room, apologising for being late as they went. He watched as the last trailing student wandered through the large door, and she began to look around, as though to make sure nobody was watching.

Draco stepped out from the wall and when she saw him, she jumped.

"What's going on?" he asked, staring at the ornate door.

"Why do you care?" she shot back, glaring at him.

Draco shrugged. "Just the general suspicious behaviour. It doesn't look all that good. If Umbridge were to find out, you never know what could happen."

_You say you care for me, but hide it well._

Her eyes narrowed at him. "You wouldn't dare," she said boldly.

Draco strode towards the door, where Hermione stood. "Maybe I would," he hissed. "I've got nothing to lose."

Hermione froze as he stopped right in front of her. He looked her up and down and said, "If you're going to take away my happiness then I have every right to take yours."

Still Hermione didn't say anything, but lifted her hand up and for the slightest of moments, her fingertips brushed against his lips, dragging softly along his cheek, his jaw, his neck. Draco's eyelids began to close, and then he felt something alarmingly sharp and cold prod into his pulse.

His eyes snapped open again and he saw her other hand holding her wand tightly. Her soft amber eyes were still as gentle, and her voice was shaking but she was doing what she had to.

"Leave now," she said. "Before I do something we'll both regret."

Draco chuckled mirthlessly. "Is that a threat, Granger?"

She didn't say anything, so Draco lifted his hand and grasped hers, making her gasp as he said, pressing the wand harder against his skin, "Do it. I dare you."

Her hand shook as he touched her, as his intense stare left her feeling small. He knew he was being unnecessarily cruel but he wanted to see her try.

_How can you love someone, and not yourself?_

"If you're not with me," said Draco, "You're my enemy. So do it, Hermione. Hurt me."

He waited for the sharp pain of a stunning curse or a hex to hit him, but all he felt was a sharp tug as his entire body was pulled backwards down the corridor, shifting him about five metres away, and he watched as Hermione took one last look at him before she went in to the large door, and a moment later it disappeared.

Draco rubbed his eyes, and sighed. Being that close to her was unbearable. But she had touched him, and though she had hit him with a spell her eyes had been soft the whole time. She didn't want to push him away but she had chosen Harry and Ron over him, so now she didn't have a choice. She had to push him away.

_And when I'm gone, who'll break your fall, who will you blame?_

Draco wanted to wait for her to come back out again, but he knew that would be a less than clever thing to do. So he brushed himself down and strode back towards the dungeons, wandering a little waywardly around the castle back to the lower floors, taking more than a few detours on his way to kill some time.

When he got back to the dungeons, he was headed straight back to his dormitory when the dark-haired third year girl saw him enter the room and strode across towards him, her shoulder-length mahogany hair hanging loose and her tie loosened, the top few buttons of her shirt undone.

"Hello, Draco," she purred. "Where have you been?"

He stared down at her for a moment before he said, "I was at the library, Mary."

"Marley."

"Right. Marley." He sighed. "Sorry, I'm really tired. I just need to rest."

He went to move away but her hand grasped onto his and she said in her pretty voice, "I can help you relax."

Draco stared at her hand holding onto his and he wondered whether taking his mind off Hermione would be helpful. He hadn't been with anybody since the Beauxbatons girls had left.

_I can't go on, and let you lose it all, it's more than I can take_

Draco looked at the younger girl's dark brown eyes and wondered if he could forget. She smiled at him, and then he nodded. He let her pull him over to the fireplace where she sat him down, where she sat beside him and stroked his arm, gently touched him and talked to him, and she let him play with her hair and touch her leg. Draco smirked at her and felt the familiar guilt beginning to grow in his abdomen, that feeling that he was cheating.

But Hermione wasn't his girl anymore. She never had been. Maybe all he needed was a little encouragement to forget about her.

_Who'll ease your pain?_

And as they stole away to a storeroom cupboard where Draco transfigured a chair into a small futon, and as he kissed her and let her unbutton his shirt, he kept seeing Hermione's small hands touching his cheek and her soft lips kissing him, and though he tried to ignore it Draco appreciated the way that Marley's hair smelled like Hermione's vanilla shampoo. Perhaps they used the same brand.

_Ease your pain_

And as he lost himself in the young girl he wondered how far he would go. She was only thirteen, after all. He stopped her when she reached for the button of his trousers and she frowned at him, confused, but he shook his head.

"Not tonight, Marley."

She was confused but didn't argue, pulling him back towards her to kiss her again, her lithe hands running through his hair. Draco hated the way her nails scraped against his skin, they were too sharp. She kept moaning his name, and after a few times he told her to stop it.

_Who is gonna save you when I'm gone?_

He tried to push his emotions away but the negatives eventually outweighed the positives and Draco gently pushed on the young girl's shoulders, and he said, "That's enough, Marley."

"But – Draco –" she whined, reaching up to kiss him again.

"I said enough!" Draco snapped, pushing her away. "Thankyou, Marley, but I'm done."

She pulled a slightly pouting face but when she saw Draco reaching for his shirt she realised he was serious. She quickly pulled on her own shirt and shoes again before she stood up off the bed, leaving without a word.

_Who'll watch over you?_

Draco sighed and covered his face with his hands, trying to breathe. Trying to run down his emotions by using Marley had only made him feel worse. He missed her more than ever. He wanted to feel her body against his and hold her close to him. He needed her there with him. He didn't have the strength to deal with his problems if he knew she wasn't there.

It was infuriating, and depressing. It made him feel pathetic. He'd never needed anybody as much as he needed Hermione, and she'd chosen her friends over him. Draco didn't understand. Hermione was his only friend.

_Who will give you strength when you're not strong?_

It was probably just as well, he thought. It was better for her this way. It's better she doesn't have anything to do with me. I can remove myself from the equation without hurting her.

But Draco felt so elated when he would listen to her voice, and he remembered the way she used to smile and tell him he was so nice when he let her tell him all of her worries, all of her problems. She'd run to him with tears in her eyes when she needed consoling, when she was under pressure and when she was lost and confused. Draco's happiest memories were with Hermione in his arms, soothing her and letting her cry into his shoulder because he knew she trusted him and he felt so proud that he was helping somebody. He was happy when he made Hermione smile.

And now it wasn't his place anymore.

Draco's hands clenched into fists and he felt himself shaking. He had to stop being selfish. He had to learn how to be strong and how to survive without her.

He just wished it wasn't so difficult.

_Who'll watch over you when I've gone away?_


End file.
